Commerce of Color is a HuffPost series dedicated to showcasing, highlighting and highlighting brands and communities that are often ignored in the business industry despite their enormous purchasing power and influence.
A study published in 2020 showed that black Americans spent an estimated $ 109.4 billion on recreational travel in 2019, representing about 13.1% of the U.S. free travel market. The study also revealed 54% of black passengers in the US agreed that they would be more likely to visit the destination if they saw a black representation in the travel ad.
With such great purchasing power and a seemingly simple fix, simply displaying more black faces in travel images, many black travelers are becoming the change they want to see. One of them is Skylar Marshai, New York-based content creator and frequent travelers.
“I like to see myself in different spaces. I feel like I have found some of the most beautiful pieces of myself in the pockets of the world, “Marshai told me.
“I love the growth and visibility of black people who travel the world and take up as much space as possible and regain the land that has been taken from us,” she said. “It’s a privilege to occupy space and see oneself in spaces, but then to let other people who don’t look like me see me.”
Marshhi’s living, often viral Instagram photos show her how she travels with her partner Temi Ibisanmi to various scenic destinations including Maldives, France a Puerto Rico.
“When I first started traveling, blacks were not part of these travel and hotel agency campaigns; we haven’t seen each other for tourist boards and Instagram sites, “said Marshai. “As far as influencers and bloggers are concerned, it has not been customary to see black skin all over the world, even though it is so. We live in these spaces, but for some reason there was no representation of how it was captured. So when my partner and I started traveling, people just ate it and they were such passionate fans. ”
Instagram fans of Marshai are also fans of her travel accessories and outfits, as is evident from the many comments below her posts that ask where she has almost gone to everything. And to expand my wealth, I asked her to share the necessary travel essentials without which she could not leave her home (or country). See them below.
HuffPost may receive a share of purchases made through the links on this site. Each item is independently selected by the HuffPost Shopping team. Prices and availability are subject to change.
Away’s cult favorite suitcase
The Away handy suitcase is available in lavender, navy, asphalt, white and sand. It is light but made of durable polycarbonate hard shell. It also has extremely comfortable 360-degree swivel wheels, an internal compression system and a concealed waterproof laundry bag to store dirty clothes separately from clean ones.
Calpak Hue toiletry bag
Marshai said she used Calpak’s toiletry bag to store makeup and other small items. Available in colors such as moss and pink sand, it is made of scratch-resistant faux leather and has several pockets to store your small items.
GoPro HERO8
GoPro Hero8 has three levels of stabilization – on, high and boosted – so you can choose the setting that’s right for your shooting on the go.
GoPro dome port
“You put your GoPro in it and then it allows you to shoot underwater without getting water on the lens. Even though the GoPro is waterproof, we’ve found that when water gets on it, the screen looks a little weird. The dome keeps it from to get to the lens, “she said.
FIRST AID KIT
Chiara strap sandals by Marc Fisher
“I love sandals that have a little heel like those of Marc Fisher,” Marshai said. “That’s also why I’m taking a first aid kit, because I’m still spoiling my feet in sandals and I need patches all the time. That’s the part of Instagram you don’t see: my croaking.”
Black Girl Sunscreen
This pure sunscreen made for melanic skin has SPF 30 and also serves as a moisturizing milk and a light base to protect the whole body. The best part is that it doesn’t leave a white tinge.
Skin care topicals
“I recently got literally all Topicals products for all the women in my family because I tried to buy Black-owned only at Christmas. They have a brightening and cleansing serum, that’s what I use on my face. And then I use moisturizer and for my body. soothing fog, “she said.
Riot Swim Swimsuit
Riot Swim, including one-piece sets, bikini sets and overshoes, is available at Revolve.
Mirrorless 4K camcorder Sony Alpha a7 III
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘1621685564716533’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
var _fbPartnerID = null;
if (_fbPartnerID !== null) {
fbq(‘init’, _fbPartnerID + ”);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
}
(function () {
‘use strict’;
document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function () {
document.body.addEventListener(‘click’, function(event) {
fbq(‘track’, “Click”);
});
});
})();